Media Across Generations: Interview Assignment
Assignment objectives:
By completing this assignment, the student will:
understand how various media sources affect intrapersonal, interpersonal, and mass communication –
in both the past and present.infer how various media sources may affect communication in the future – in similar and different
ways than today and in the past.develop better interviewing skills and techniquesreflect on and synthesize themes, differences and similarities in media and technology use across
generations.
Directions:
For this assignment, you will interview two people. The first person, whom you will refer to as “Interviewee
1,” should be someone one generation older than you (a parent or someone of your parents’ generation). The
second person, whom you will refer to as “Interviewee 2,” should be and someone two generations older than
you (a grandparent or someone of your grandparents’ generation).
Your goal is to learn about what media and technology were like when they were growing up. You will ask
each interviewee the following 8 questions, as well as two additional questions that are relevant to this topic,
which you come up with on your own.
Use these 10 questions as a guide, but allow the conversation to unfold naturally and allow your
interviewees to expand on their answers as they see fit. Feel free to ask them follow up answers to
gain more information.
Interview QuestionsWhat type of media did you use the most often when you were growing up?How did you gain access to media content (movies, music, magazines, books)?How much choice did you have when accessing media content?What type of media/technology did you use most frequently to communicate with your friends and
family?Tell me about one media product (e.g. a movie, book, or song) that you recall having a strong influence
on you as you were growing up.How do you feel that the media you grew up with may have influenced your sense of your own culture
and identity?How did the stereotypical representations in the media you consumed affect you and your
understanding of the world?What kind of access did you have to find out about what was going on in other countries around the
world?A relevant question of your own interest related to the topic of media/technology:A relevant question of your own interest related to the topic of media/technology:
Assignment Submission
In your submission, provide each interviewee’s answers to these questions (labeling them “Interviewee 1” and
“Interviewee 2”), and then thoroughly answer the following questions as your own reflection on this
interview experience:What was the most interesting, significant, or surprising thing you learned from your interview with
Interviewee 1? From Interviewee 2?What are some similarities or differences between the media use of your generation and the media
use of Interviewee 1’s generation? Of Interviewee 2’s generation?What are some similarities or differences between the role that media played in people’s
understanding of their own identity and the world in the past, and today?In general, would you say that media and technology have had more of a positive influence or negative
influence in each generation, as well as your own?What did you learn about how changes in media and technology have influenced the way we
communicate over time?What did you learn about how the cultural influence of media has changed over time?Come up with one or two additional questions that you would ask your interviewees if you could meet
them again, to follow up on what you learned.Please provide any other thoughts, lessons learned, or insights that you have had through this
experience.
Format: Please type your paper using 1” margins, size 12 font, and double-space it. Use appropriate headings, as needed.
Due: Both the interview AND the reflection paper are due by 2/1 @ 9:00am
Please submit your completed assignment electronically through Moodle.
